Forever Betrayed: Forever Bluegrass #3 by Kathleen Brooks

to have been when he kissed her in the hidden room. He had moved too fast. That’s the only thing he could think of. It was certainly a strange experience to have a woman run away from him.
    The café was only partially full at one o’clock. He was meeting the guys to go over the updates from Rahmi and discuss any last-minute needs for the summit. He saw Ryan’s FBI sedan out front, along with Dylan’s massive pickup truck and Deacon’s SUV. It looked like he was the last to arrive.
    Inside, the smells of the home cooking settled him as he headed for their table. Jackson was the first to see him. “We were beginning to think you forgot about us,” he teased.
    “Sorry I’m late. I had to drive Mila back to the bed and breakfast.”
    Dylan raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. Ryan and Deacon were both already talking.
    “Where did you two come from?” Deacon asked.
    “What were you doing together?” Ryan asked at the same time.
    Zain looked around before he spoke. He saw Poppy heading their way and didn’t bother saying anything as his friends all stared at him.
    “Howdy, guys. What can I do you for today?” she asked as her pencil hovered over the small notepad.
    The men placed their orders and Zain waited until Poppy had left before leaning forward and dropping his voice. “I screwed up, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
    “What do you mean?” Ryan asked in the same low whisper.
    “I kissed her,” Zain said on a sigh.
    “And?” Deacon asked.
    “And I wanted to do a whole lot more, but she literally jumped away from me and won’t look at me now. I’ve never had a woman react like this,” Zain said, perplexed.
    The guys looked at each other and Dylan raised an eyebrow again as if saying, “So?”
    “So, I want to kiss her again. I like her. But I don’t think she likes me,” Zain said, falling back against the booth.
    “Maybe she has a boyfriend,” Ryan said with a shrug of his shoulders.
    “Maybe she would like Veronica more than you,” Jackson smirked. While Veronica wasn’t in the closet, she also didn’t scream about being out of it. So far, she was proving to be a challenge to the Rose sisters, who, while retired from matchmaking, saw it as a challenge. Just the month before, they’d asked one of the Keeneston Belles if she was a lesbian. The Belle had just blinked and sputtered. They kept her on the list.
    Zain thought back to when he kissed her. “I don’t think so. She certainly acted as if she enjoyed it before she suddenly jumped away from me.”
    “Ask her on a date. She probably thinks you’re just used to kissing every woman around. You were in the magazines a lot for that when you were in college,” Dylan said, then took another sip of water.
    “That could be right.” Ryan smiled.
    “Sounds like a plan.” Deacon nodded.
    “Unless you’re too scared to ask her out,” Jackson smirked.
    “Me? Scared to ask a girl out? Right,” Zain snorted.
    “Then ask her to dinner tonight,” Jackson challenged.
    Zain frowned. “I can’t tonight.”
    “ Bawk-bawk-baaaaawk .” Ryan imitated a chicken as the guys laughed.
    Zain took the ribbing as he shook his head. “Not that I can’t ask her, but it's that I know she already has plans. Abby invited her to dinner with the girls tonight.”
    “Perfect,” Ryan said with a smile.
    “How is that perfect?” Zain asked.
    “Because we can have my wife question her,” Ryan said as he pulled out his cell phone and started to text Sienna. “Find out if Mila is a lesbian. If not, find out if she has a boyfriend. And if not, see if she likes Zain,” Ryan mumbled as he typed.
    Dylan grunted and shook his head.
    Jackson laughed. “You’re acting as if you’re in grade school. How the mighty have fallen.”
    “Oh, you think this is funny. Just wait to see what happens when you bring a girl to town,” Zain threatened. But that didn’t stop him from sending his own message to Abby from under